from esmd site: “this project will investigate concepts for lunar regolith excavation equipment...
TRANSCRIPT
From ESMD site: “this project will investigate concepts for Lunar Regolith Excavation equipment and propose solutions in the form of completed designs and prototypes”, using a Systems Engineering Approach
Topic: “Lunar Regolith Excavation for Oxygen Production and Outpost Emplacement”
A standalone Systems Engineering Overview for Application of the Process on a Student Project
Technical Contact and Monitor: Rob Mueller, Surface Systems Lead Engineer
Don’t give students any design ideas – let their creative juices flow!
I teach a senior project class (“capstone design”), working with a team of students assigned to a project. You could be AE, ME, EE, etc.
Minimal or no lecturing – students spend their time on a project designing and building a prototype.
Faculty guides the student team through the design process.
Project could, but not necessarily, be multidisciplinary (single subsystem or many subsystems).
So does this describe your situation?????? AND Are you interested in a NASA capstone design
project???
NASA will support student teams with $7K through the Space Grant Consortium
Pick a Project from the ESMD website; I chose the lunar excavator
But students need some background information to proceed: Need to know about designing for the lunar
environment (although they build a prototype for use on the earth)
Need to know about Systems Engineering because NASA wants a Systems Engineering Approach
What Resources are Available????
On Systems Engineering (SE): Provides background by a brief, but complete SE guidebook chapter (Chapter 3) for a student-team Systems Engineering Project. Student Friendly, with lots of examples and direction meant to
simplify a complex process and APPLY IT. Faculty Friendly – faculty lectures for 2 weeks, and then guides
the process per the process in the handbook and webpage (webpage is “step-by-step”).
Co-authored by a NASA Systems Engineer. Strongly influenced by a special NASA SE course developed and
tested at Univ of Texas Spring 08, by a NASA engineer with 20 years experience in SE.
An application example project is presented in Chapter 4 on the CubeSat - led by JM Wersinger
On the Lunar Environment: Provides background on past and future lunar missions, lunar environment, materials and components, thermal control, CAE
Made it “student friendly”. Cut through the clutter that SE literature is full of.
A “linking webpage” – a chronology for the course, basis for the 2 weeks of lectures.
Meant not to impede student design efforts with lots of lectures.
Faculty should lecture about 2 weeks on SE, taking students through the webpage. Students read Chapter 3 (Systems Engineering) and CubeSat chapter. Quiz Students
Thereafter faculty guides student team, who are referring back to the webpage for guidance.
Webpage is a “Cliff Notes” format and project chronology, that links to the in-depth content of the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Systems Engineering Chapter 3: Systems Engineering Example of a
Cubesat Chapter 4: Systems Engineering Tools Chapter 5: The Lunar Environment Chapter 6: Component Design and Selection Chapter 7: Thermal Control Chapter 8: CAE Tools
Best reference: The “Lunar Sourcebook”, the book by Eckhart if you can find it.
Review of the LPI website with the students.
Objective: Provide background. Excite students. Students have little knowledge about what happened in early lunar missions, rovers are fun and legacy, neat lunar bases, teleoperated and autonomous “robonaut”, “chariot”.
Best references: AU CubeSat Report, NASA SE Handbook as a reference, U of Texas Course notes.
Systems Engineering literature is a mess, particularly if you want to apply it and learn it quickly. Complex and inconsistent terminology.
Big questions: How to simplify SE, and apply on a student project?
Sought help from experts who have applied it: Dick Cook, Lisa Guerra, Joe Bonometti, JM Wersinger
It is possible to use these chapter for any SE student project!!!
The Vee Chart: “Vee Chart” for the lifecycle, from –A through D
The 11 SE functions: NASA Document GPG7120: Used this and description of 11 SE functions
A Good Example: JM Wersinger’s student report that demonstrate SE tools, management structure, documentation, requirements, architecture, condensed in Chapter 3.
Phase D(3): SAITLIntegrate Subsystems and Verify System Performance
Phase D(2): SAITLIntegrate Components and
Verify Subsystem Performance
Pre-Phase A: Concept StudiesMission-Level Objectives + multiple R/A/C concepts +
Mission Validation Plan
Phase A: Concept DevelopmentSingle System-level R/A/C+ Trade Studies + System
Verification Plan
Phase B: Preliminary DesignSubsystem-level R/A/C
+ Interfacing + complete technology+ Subsystems Verification Plan
Phase D(4): SAITLSystem Demonstration
and Validation
Phase C(2): Final Design and Fabrication Fabric hardware and software
Phase C(1): Final Design and FabricationFinal Detailed Design
Phase D(1): SAITL Verify Component Performance
Dom
ain
of Engin
eeri
ng
Desi
gn
Dom
ain
of Sys
tem
s Engin
eeri
ng
Time and Project MaturityTime and Project Maturity
Decomposition &
Definition Sequence Integ
ratio
n &
Verifi
catio
n Seq
uenc
e
Mission Requirements
& Priorities
System Demonstration
& Validation
Develop SystemRequirements &
System Architecture
Allocate PerformanceSpecs & Build
Verification Plan
Design Components
Integrate System &Verify
Performance Specs
Component Integration & Verification
VerifyComponent Performance
Fabricate, Assemble, Code &
Procure Parts
Systems Engineering Domain
Component Engineering Domain
Derived
RequirementsArchitecture
/Design
Concept of
Operations
Input: Mission Objectives (Starts Pre-Phase A)
Output: Proceed to next Phase, ending at Operations (Phase E)
Other SE Functions:• Interfaces•Mission Environment•Resource Budgets•Risk Management•Configuration Management•Reviews
Validate and Verify
Validate and Verify
Validate and Verify
1 The Lunar Environment and Issues for Engineering Design 1.1 Gravity and the Lunar Vacuum 1.2 The Lunar Day and Night 1.3 Radiation 1.3.1 Electromagnetic and Particle Radiation (Smithers, 2007; Tribble,
2003) 1.3.2 Ionizing Radiation 1.3.3 Radiation and Survivability 1.4 Surface Temperature 1.5 Micrometeoroids 1.6 Regolith 1.6.1 General Characteristics 1.6.2 Other Physical Properties 1.6.3 Chemistry 1.6.4 Geotechnical and Engineering properties 1.6.5 Regolith Simulants 1.7 Summary of Lunar Resources 1.8 APPENDIX – SOIL AND ROVER FORCE CALCULATIONS
Best Reference: Conley (Satellites), Lunar Rover pages at LPI
When designing the excavator, not much guidance is available in the literature for lunar components, so turned to space engineering literature that focused on satellites.
The Lunar Rover represents legacy, students can view a successful lunar product
I sent students out to do “trade studies”, looking at materials for a bit, conveyor belt, support structure, etc.
Found and listed a number of standards Considered fasteners, bearings, motors, power
components
Modeling and simulating is often used in the design phases of Systems Engineering
Demonstrated a multi-body dynamic simulation of a excavator using Dynamic Designer
In response to and suggested by reviewer Rearrangement of order of topics to suit
a course Content when needed in the course,
based on SE approach and sequence of SE events as the course proceedes.
Also a kind of “Cliff Notes” with links to content already in other chapters
Follow the Process on the Webpage Pick a mission objective Get money in place from Space Grant Contact other faculty for multidisciplinary teams
(although you can run just an ME team with the mechanical excavator missions objective)
Design and build for one or two semesters, excavator to mate to KSC vehicle
Test in bin full of dry concrete. Compete??? Send video to NASA+ report
